In Others' Personal Affairs
by LegionInfinity
Summary: It started with a kiss. A kiss that changed everything. Now, Aryan must make a choice, between loyalty to her friends and loyalty to her family. Already, friends are turning on friends, brothers are turning on sisters. Time is running out for one member of the team, can Aryan stop this battle before they lose a friend for good? Rated T for mild language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

It started with a kiss.

And not the good kind.

Zane once told me that when bad things happen, I should find a way to get it out of my system, therefore, out of mind.

A bad thing happened.

So for some reason I decided to tell you, a complete stranger, the whole story. The painful truth.

How can a family fall apart?

That's the question I ask myself everyday. If we were truly a family, why do we all hate each other? Why can't Cole and Jay be in the same room for more than a minute? Why won't Nya talk to me?

How could I have let that get between us saving Kai?

Then I remember, the reason we fell apart, the reason I can only get an honest conversation out of Zane and Lloyd.

That is the story I'm here to tell you today. The story I wish I could go back and time and fix.

Okay, let's start at the beginning.

I was on my way to see Isabelle, a fortune teller. She lived on the streets and read palms for money, so I always went to see her. I felt bad for her, she was old and needed the money to get by, I also brought her things she needed, like food. I walked to her street corner and found her all wrapped up in her shaw, trying to keep warm as winter neared.

"Good morning Isabelle!"

She looked up at me and a large smile formed on her old face.

"Hello Dear! Come and sit!"

I sat down and eagerly handed her the basket I was carrying. She took it and looked up at me in surprise.

"What's this?"

"Oh, you know, just a little something to help you get by this winter, that's all."

She reached into the basket and pulled out a brand new shaw. The tears began to stream down her face. She hugged the shaw against her chest.

"Thank you Aryan, it's beautiful."

I smiled and hugged her.

"I knew you would like it."

We sat there in silence for a few more minutes, then Isabelle spoke.

"Enough with this crying nonsense, let's see what trouble my honorable warrior is going to get herself into this week."

I smiled, I sort of liked it when she called me her "honorable warrior", that's what she called me the first time I came across her. Later, she told me it's what my name meant, even though I hadn't told her. I held out my palm and she took it between her old, withered hands. Almost immediately she frowned.

"What is it?"

She shook her head and looked up at me, her large brown eyes were sad.

"Oh no. I'm gonna die aren't I?"

She cracked a smile smile.

"No, you aren't going to die, but your friend might."

My heart sped up.

"How?"

"This week, you will be faced with the biggest decision of your life. A choice between loyalty and blood. You must make a choice. Make the wrong one and your family will be forced to choose sides, starting a battle you cannot finish. And if all goes according to the path, you will lose a friend, in more ways than one."

I tried to calm my pounding heart as I quickly stood up.

"Sorry, I...I have to go."

I began to run back the way I came, trying to find the quickest way back to the Bounty. I ran until my feet couldn't take it anymore so I slowed down and began to walk up the streets, trying to remember where I was. Just as I was about to give up, I looked over across the street and saw a familiar face.

"Cole!" I shouted, but he continued walking.

"Cole!"

He turned the street corner and walked down a small, side alley. He must not have heard me. Well, it's probably for the best, if he knew I got lost, I'd never live it down.

But he knew the way back to the Bounty, so I would have to follow him at the least.

I quickly ran across the street, almost getting hit by a cab in the process.

"Sorry!" I yelled over my shoulder. I couldn't lose him, or I would have to wander aimlessly around town until someone came to pick me up. I wound not live with that humiliation.

I turned and ran down the alley, but I stopped in my tracks.

My heart stopped too.

Because standing not ten feet in front of me was Cole, kissing some girl.

But it wasn't just any girl.

My older brother Cole was kissing my best friend Nya.

I quickly ran back up the alley and turned the corner. I felt the tears form in my corners of my eyes, I quickly wiped my hand across my eyes. I needed to be adult about this.

What should I do, what should I do!

**And that, is where you all come it! You will get to choose what Aryan will do next! Just write in the review what you want her to do and whatever gets the most votes wins! But remember, choose carefully, because if she makes the wrong choice, it might be lights out for one of her friends.**

**Will she...?**

**Choice #1.**

**Confront Nya and Cole.**

**Choice #2.**

**Confront just Cole/Nya.**

**Choice #3.**

**Talk to Kai.**

**Choice #4.**

**Tell Jay.**

**Choice #5.**

**Tell no one.**

**Choice #6.**

**Confide in Zane.**


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so where were we? Ah yes, I had just seen the very bad thing and being me, I did the first thing that popped into my head. I went to see my boyfriend.

I ran through the streets until I found myself at the Bounty. I ran up the ramp and down to the lower deck. He would know what to do. I ran down the hall past Nya and my room and turned the corner into the boys' room, trying hard not to cry.

He was sitting on his bed reading his book, looking very thoughtful. When he saw me enter, he calmly closed his book and stood up. He opened his arms to me and I ran into them, sobbing uncontrollably. He stroked the back of my head, trying to get me to calm down. When I could finally talk again, we sat on the bed and I told him the whole story. He listened thoughtfully, then he spoke.

"The best thing you could do would be to talk to Kai, he might know what to do."

"I thought about that, but he would just yell at Cole or Nya, and that wouldn't be pretty."

He looked at me for a long time.

"Are you suggesting that we just keep this between us?"

I looked up at him.

"Please. It would just be until I have the nerve to confront them."

He smiled and pulled my towards him. I leaned against him, listening to the slow hum of his machinery, he kissed me on the head.

"Fine, we can keep this between us under one condition."

"What?"

"You tell me before you confront them, you know how your anger gets the better of you when someone's done something wrong."

I thought about that for a moment and then I realized, these weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of anger. He was right, as usual.

"Zane, can you make me a promise?"

"Yes?"

I sighed, trying to cover the anger that had crept it's way into my voice.

"If I...freak out, you have to promise me you'll stay out of my way. I don't want to hurt you."

He held on to me for a minute, then he pulled away and took my hands.

"I promise."

I smiled and we leaned towards each other, just as our lips were about to touch, Cole burst into his room. We quickly broke away from one another.

His hair was all messed up and he had a goofy smile on his face. My hand balled into a fist and my heart began to speed up.

"Oh my gosh," Cole said, still with the goofy smile, "I met the most amazing girl today. Oh! I think I'm in love!"

My vision became to turn red.

"Oh I bet you did, you little piece of..."

Zane reached over and quickly grabbed my hand. My breathing began to slow.

"I...I need to go."

I leaned up and gave Zane a quick kiss on the cheek, then I shoved my way past Cole and out into the hall. I walked to my room and slammed the door. I turned around and saw Nya laying oh her bed, staring dreamily up at the celling.

"Oh Aryan, his eyes are the color of a thundercloud, so big and beautiful."

I swallowed, I needed to keep my cool.

"Jay's?"

She sat up and looked at me and her brown eyes got nervous.

"Um, yeah. Jay."

I'm not proud of how I reacted. I lost my cool. I pulled one of my sais out of my pocket and threw it, hard.

I missed Nya by an inch. She looked at me and shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

I'd had it. Zane would not be happy with me.

"YOUR ONE TO TALK!"

Her voice got nervous.

"What...what do you mean?"

I walked up to her, being a year older I was much taller. She backed up against the wall. I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"You know exactly what I mean."

I reached up and pulled my sai out of the wall. I turned around to walk out of the room, but I paused.

"One more thing, Jay's eyes are blue, the color of the sea. Don't slip up next time."

With that, I walked out. But I was immediately thrown up against the wall. A hand held me in place. I looked up into the face of my older brother. He had heard.

Why didn't I talk to Zane first?

"Kai will kill me if he finds out! You can't tell anyone what you saw. For me."

I shoved against him, he may have been bigger than me but I was still pretty strong.

I looked at him, the anger in my eyes was showing, I couldn't hide it.

"Why not instead of focusing on what you could lose, you focus on what you lost."

Cole looked at me.

"Jay was the best friend you could ever have, sorry you had throw all that away for that bitch."

I turned on my heel and left, I needed some time to think.

I needed to talk to Sensei.


	3. Chapter 3

He caught up to me. I tried to hard to out-run him. He grabbed my wrist, digging his nails into the soft flesh as I screamed in pain.

"Your my sister! Why are you trying to ruin this for me? Can't you see I'm in love?"

I tried to pull away, but he was too strong.

"ANSWER ME!"

I stopped struggling and looked him in the eye.

"I'm a hero. Naturally, I fight for the RIGHT side."

It happened so fast I couldn't stop it. He raised his hand high above his head and brought it down across my face. The pain was so horrible, I nearly screamed. Instead I collected myself and looked back up at him, trying to mask the sting it gave.

"WE COULD GET KICKED OFF THE BOUNTY! DON'T YOU CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO US?"

His shouting was enough for Zane to come running out into the hall to see what was the matter. The moment he saw my cheek, his face twisted into a mask of pure rage, a look I had never seen before. He began to walk towards Cole, but I held my free hand up to stop him. My mind was a mixture of wanting to cry and hit him back. But instead, I pulled my face up so that I was right in line with his eyes.

"You and that little bitch can get kicked into hell for all I care."

I'd pissed him off. I shouldn't have. Without missing a beat, he threw me against the wall until a sticky feeling was dripping down my back and I blacked out.

I woke up two hours later lying in my bed. I reached up to touch my pounding head and was surprised to discover that I had a large white bandage around my forehead. I stood up, ignoring the pain and walked over to the mirror in the corner. I gasped.

There was a bandage around my head and neck, already soaked through with blood. There was also a bandage running across the length of my face.

Oh my gosh.

"One more and he would have broken your neck."

I turned around to see Zane, who had walked into the room with teapot and two teacups. I reached up and gently felt my neck.

"Did you tell anyone?"

He poured tea into a cup and walked over to me. He held the cup out and I took it, waiting for his answer.

"No. But I should have."

I sighed. It was still okay. Jay and Kai still didn't know.

"What time is it?"

Zane stopped pouring tea into his cup and glanced at the clock.

"About five-thirty."

I set my teacup down and began to walk out of the door. We usually started having dinner at five-fifteen.

"Whoa," Zane said, stepping in front of me, "slow down, he went to your dad's for the night."

"Oh, that's not why I'm going."

I angrily walked down the hall and turned the corner, Immediately, the warm smell of Zane's cooking overpowered my senses.

I walked into the room and slammed my fists onto the table in front of Nya.

"I want you out."

She looked up at me and immediately, her eyes widened."

"Oh my god Aryan! What happened?!"

"Oh this?", I said gesturing to my bandages, "Your boyfriend did this to me."

Jay stopped eating and looked up at me horrified.

"No I didn't!"

I smiled sweetly at him.

"I know, Cole did this to me."

I heard Nya suck in a sharp breath and I turned to look at her.

"Guess your little secrets out then."

Kai stood up and looked at me.

"What secret?"

I glanced over at him and pulled myself up onto the table. I pulled one of my sais out of my sash and pointed it at Nya.

"This little bitch has been cheating on Jay with Cole!" I announced loudly enough for all of Ninjago to hear.

Jay looked at Nya.

"Is this true?"

Nya quickly ran over to Jay.

"Of course not!"

"Don't lie to him!" I yelled. "Don't lie to Kai either!"

I glanced over at them, their undivided attention was on me.

"And when I threatened to tell you all about the affair, Cole slammed me into a wall until I passed out. MY OWN BROTHER!"

I glanced over at Nya, who was now trying to back silently out into the room. Kai and Jay looked over and saw what she was doing. A small tear slipped down his face as he pushed his chair out and ran past Nya down the hall.

"Jay!" Nya yelled out as she tried to follow him. I stopped her as Kai cut past her and ran after him.

Nya looked at me, he soft green eyes hardening with rage.

"You did this to us! To your own brother!"

I leaned down next to her.

"My brother would never hurt his friend."

Nya looked at me in shock. Yes, I had just disowned my older brother.

I felt awful, but not enough not to add,

"Now gather all your crap and Get. The. Hell. Out."

I ran away, trying not to look back. Trying not to remember she was my best friend. But little did I know I had made the biggest mistake of my life because behind Nya's back, hidden well be her hand was a small bug. A bug that was hooked to my brother's laptop.

And my brother wanted to get even.


	4. Chapter 4

_Betrayal is a hard slap,_

_cold across your face._

_The iciness spreads,_

_worming it way through your unsuspecting body,_

_until you know nothing else._

_-Aryan Brookestone_

I help the thin sheet of parchment up to the light as I examined the words I had just written. I sighed, I love Zane, but of all his ideas, this one was definitely the worst. Poetry helped with nothing but proving your had a weakness.

And right now, I could not afford to have one.

I laid the paper back down on my desk and glanced over at the clock, twelve o'clock exactly. I still had six hours left of the cold, sleepless night. I switched off my desk lamp and laid down on my bed, my room was oddly quiet, as it had been for the last week.

One week. That's how long it's been since I kicked Nya out. Since I've seen my brother. I looked up at the dark celeing, I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Today also marked a week of other things, like a week since Jay locked himself in his room, forcing Kai and Zane to on the deck. Jay only came out at night, to get something to eat and to look up at the stars until the first light of day creeps over the mountain. It also marks one week since I have last slept through the night. Everytime I try to sleep, I have nightmares. Nightmares about Cole, where he...no. It was too horrible to talk about.

I looked over at the glowing numbers on my clock, only twelve-ten. I pushed myself off the bed and quietly opened my door, slipping silently out into the hallway. As I crept up the stairs to the deck, I tried to think about all the good times I had with them, but none came to me. It was the day I had always feared, when the dark blinded me to the light.

I walked up to the deck and the pale moonlight made my silver suit glow. I quietly crept around a sleeping Kai and Zane as I made my way to the front of the ship, where a tall figure stood, leaning on the railing. I walked over next to him and glanced up at the stars, trying to look in the same direction he was looking.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

I jumped and looked over at the figure next to me, his blue eyes boaring into mine. I hadn't heard his voice in a week, it sounded hoarse and sad, probably from lack of use.

"My own brother threw me up against the wall until I passed out, over some girl who already had a boyfriend. Forgive me for not being able to sleep."

He looked back up at the stars and sighed.

"I'm sorry Aryan. I keep...I keep forgeting that he's your brother. All I see is a back-stabbing son of a bitch."

I looked over at him, the dark circles under his eyes almost as deep as mine. They were taking the color out of his eyes.

"Are you having nightmares too?"

He shot a quick glance over at me, then looked back up to the sky.

"Yes. Every night, they keep getting worse until it's almost too much for me to bear. Every time I wake up, it feels like a cold slap against me cheek. It feels like..."

"Betrayal.", I finished for him, "I know, I feel it too. It takes over my body until I wake up with sweat dripping down my face and a bitter taste in my mouth."

He nods slightly to me, then shifts his gaze down to the sleeping Ninjago City.

"Where do...where do you think they are right now? What do you think they're doing?"

A horrible thought flashes through my mind, but I wouldn't dare tell him. I glance down at the city as well. I couldn't respond.

"I just hope they're both safe."

I scoot closer to him and gently lay me head against his shoulder, in a friendly way, mind you, i'm not going to make this problem any worse.

"Me too Jay. Me too."

We looked back up at the stars, maybe...maybe they could give us the answers.


	5. Chapter 5

_What makes a friend?_

_The fact that they're always there for you,_

_or the fact that they're always there at the right moment?_

_Moments pass by quickly,_

_quicker than they came,_

_I want my friends there for every one._

_-Aryan Brookestone_

When I came to breakfast the next morning, I was surprised to find that instead of Zane, Jay was cooking, or trying to cook, breakfast. I snickered slightly, he was wearing Zane's bright pink apron.

"What are you doing?"

He looked over at me with a skeptical look on his face.

"What does it look like? Making breakfast. I thought it was obvious."

I shook my head.

"Isn't that normally Zane's jurisdiction?"

He shrugged.

"Your boyfriend slept in this morning. I thought I would be nice and make breakfast for him, considering it's my fault he has to sleep on the deck in the first place."

I leaned against the door frame and crossed my arms.

"I guess my real question is, why did you come out in the first place?"

Jay pulled a smoking skillet off the burner and switched it off. He wiped his hands on a rag and swung it over his shoulder.

"Because I think we're all a little tired of being reminded about the mistakes our peers made."

I looked down at the ground. Jay's feet appeared in my view and I looked up at him.

"And you and I made an agreement."

I gave him a confused look.

"No we didn't."

He smiled.

"Well, I made an agreement for the both of us. If I agreed to come out of my room, you would try to get some sleep."

I smiled slightly.

"Fine. Have it your way." I glanced over his shoulder, "And your skillet's on fire."

Jay turned around and ran over, trying to smother the small flame.

"What is going on in here?"

I turned to Zane as he walked into the room. He stopped in the doorway and smiled at me. I smiled back. He bent down and softly pressed his lips against mine, then gently traced his hand across the bandage on my neck.

"Are you ready to take them off yet?"

I smiled even wider.

"Yeah, I was just about to go and do that."

I pushed out of the doorway and into the hall. I turned around to look at his back.

"And sweetie?"

Zane turned to look at me.

"Help Jay put out the fire before he burns the boat down."

Zane's eyes widened as he turned around and rushed into the kitchen. I smiled slightly and turned around to walk to my room when I bumped into Kai. I pointed my index finger at him.

"You. After I finish taking off my bandages, we need to talk."

He nodded slightly, then walked into the kitchen. I heard muffled shouting as I walked away. When I reached the room I used to share with Nya, and gently shut the door. Without turning on the lights, I walked over to the large vanity we kept in the corner and reached for a small set of scissors we kept in a small cup on the surface. I reached up and gently began to cut into the bandage that wrapped around my head and face. I pulled it off to reveal nothing but a large bruise.

I smiled. It would heal. I gently touched my neck and found a loose spot in the bandage. As I began to cut, a sour smell from the medication Zane had placed on the wound reached my nose and I cringed. I quickly finished cutting. I touched the delicate skin on my neck and as I ran my hand around my neck, I noticed something. Running all the way around my neck, was a pale, white scar.

I ran my index finger slowly over it as a small tear ran down my neck. Every time I looked in the mirror, I would see a scar, all because of my brother. This scar would have his name on it.

Forever.

I ran over to my desk and grabbed the glossy, red journal I had been writing my poetry in.

_A pale flash,_

_light across my neck._

_A single tear runs across,_

_leaving a slight sting._

_Branding me for life._

_Blood drawn by blood,_

_and scars run deep._

_-Aryan Brookestone_

I finished writing my poem and snapped the journal shut. I ran over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a fuzzy, silver turtleneck. I pulled the outfit on and walked over to the mirror and made sure it covered up the scar. As I was brushing my hair, I noticed the journal sitting on my bed. There were words on it I had never noticed before. I walked over to the bed and picked the book up. On the cover, in very neat handwriting, was four words.

_PROPERTY OF NYA IGNIS_

I opened to the first page and smiled as I read the first two words. Then I picked up my pencil and flipped to the next clean page.

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**This is gonna be good. :)**_

_**Love,**_

_**Aryan**_


	6. Chapter 6

_I can hide my scar._

_I can hide my pain._

_But my anger shows through any veil,_

_like paper, it can also blow away._

_But it always makes me wonder,_

_am I really hiding everything?_

_-Aryan Brookestone_

I carefully tucked Nya's diary behind my pillow, I would check it out later. For now, I needed to go back out with the boys, before they began to worry. As I walked out the door, I took one more good look at my turtleneck in the mirror, making sure it still covered my scar. I smiled and tried to erase the pained look on my face, but my eyes gave me away. Some say that eyes were the windows to the soul, if you know me well, you can read me, a little too well.

Zane would notice. I glanced up and gently touched the picture I kept taped to the mirror. We were smiling. We looked happy, I wish more than anything I could go back to that time. A time when we could go to the fair with our dad, when we could just be brother and sister, not enemies.

Cole would notice. That is, if he still cared.

I walked into the kitchen and was immediately choked by the large, dark cloud of smoke that was hovering over the floor. My eyes were watering, but I could still see the orange glow erupting from behind the veil of smoke. I coughed, trying to draw in as much oxygen as I could.

"ZANE! JAY! KAI!" I coughed once more. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"

I began to walk toward the fire, and immediately tripped over something. I waited for the impact of the floor, but instead I fell on something reasonably soft. I looked up into the face of my boyfriend, his eyes closed. I pulled my legs over Jay, trying to untangle my ankle from his arm. I laid my head gently against Zane's chest, trying to sooth my cough. His heart was beating, ticking. He was alive. I sat up and looked over Zane's body to where Kai was laying, his chest was slowly moving up and down. Jay's was as well. I rolled my eyes and stood up, coughing as my face re-entered the cloud of smoke. We've faced monsters, snakes, villains and all sorts of creeps but a little too much smoke in the lungs can knock out the great Ninjas of Ice, Fire and Lightning. I smiled slightly. How pathetic.

The fire was easy to put out and I opened up the windows and door to drain the smoke from the room. Their was a slight breeze going outside and the smoke was gone in no time. I turned on the stove and began to heat up the skillet. As I was preparing the pancake mix, I heard a groan coming from the floor, I smiled as the boys each pulled a chair out from the table and sat down, cradling their heads in their hands.

"Okay, what the hell happened?"

Kai was having a hard time sounding ticked because of how hoarse his voice was from the smoke. I knew my voice would be hoarse as well.

"I've watched all three of you get thrown off your dragon by a gigantic snake and still be able to fight for another hour. One tiny little breathe of smoke and you all go down like dominoes."

I didn't even try to hide my smile as I put a pancake on each of their plates. Zane stood up and took my face in his hands.

"Your injuries seem to be healing well."

He traced his fingers down the bruises on my cheek and jawbones until he got down to the tip of my chin. He stared at me for a few moments, his eyes on mine, then they got wider with realization. I gently closed my eyes as his fingers traced down my neck and gently pulled my turtleneck away from my neck.

"Oh my gosh."

That was Jay. Zane was just quiet, slowly tracing the scar around my neck. I heard the scratching of the chair as it was pushed away from the table, footsteps began to get closer until they stopped right in front of me.

"I can't believe he did that to her. His own sister."

I opened my eyes as two pairs of blue eyes, one light and one dark, were staring at my neck. And at me. I glanced across the room and saw that Kai had moved over next to the window. He was just staring out, looking at the city below. I pushed past the others as I walked over next to him.

"Kai? Are you okay?"

He glanced over at me, then back out the window.

"I don't know. Are you?"

I reached up and touched my neck.

"Just a little sore, that's all."

I looked over at him as a single tear slipped down his cheek. I laid my hand on his shoulder.

"Kai?"

He shook his head slightly.

"He could have killed you, he WANTED to kill you. And she stood by, she watched, as if she didn't care."

I looked at him confused.

"But Nya was in..."

"No.", he said, cutting me off, "After you left, she told me what happened. She couldn't have told me in that kind of detail if she hadn't been there."

He was silent for a moment, then he continued.

"I raised her since she was six. I taught her the difference between right and wrong. I didn't teach her to just stand by while her friend was being threatened."

We were all silent for a long time, the silence was horrible to bear.

"So it's almost lunch time! I know Aryan worked hard to make these pancakes, but how about we go into town for a little lunch?"

I looked over at Jay and smiled. He hasn't disappointed me yet.

"Yes. That sounds great."

After the Bounty landed, we didn't have to walk far to get to a small diner on Twelfth-Street. I walked Kai opened the door and we all walked into the brightly lit diner. Just as I walked in, I felt a small prickle run up my spine. I stopped and glanced across the street. A dark figure was leaning against the wall in a small alley, his eyes following my every movement. Zane poked his head out of the door.

"Are you coming?"

Without looking taking my eyes off the figure, I responded.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be in in just a minute, okay?"

I heard the worry in his voice.

"Okay, wherever you are going, do not get into too much trouble."

I heard the door glide shut quietly behind me. I put my hands in my pockets and walked across the street.

"What are you doing here?"

The figure let out a low laugh.

"Same as you, trying to get the record straight."

He stepped out into the open, his gray eyes tracing the bruises on my face. Something flashed in his eyes, regret, sorrow, sadness. But he quickly covered it up, replaced it with anger. He held out his arm to me.

"Let's walk."

I smiled, trying to hide my fear. He looked away from me and I closed my eyes. He had seen. I smiled wider.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be than on a walk in the sunshine with my big brother."


	7. Chapter 7

_Family isn't a choice, but you choose how you treat your family._

_Did someone ever come and ask what I wanted in a brother?_

_Strong, brave, and always looking out for me._

_The man standing in front of me now, is nothing but a coward._

_This man is not my brother._

-_Aryan Brookestone_

Okay, I know we left off at suspenseful part, but I need to take a break to tell you something, something important to the rest of this story.

What happened next, I am not proud of. I will never be proud of.

What happened next, was the shot heard 'round Ninjago.

And it was all my fault.

…...

…...

Sorry. This is just an emotional story. I can't show weakness. Not after what...what I did to him.

We walked down the sidewalk, his arm around my shoulders. We walked in silence for about a block. I tried to cover my fear, his hand was too close to my neck for comfort. While my left hand was close to his body, my right was gripping the handle of my sai, turning my knuckles a pale white.

"Nya. Where is she?"

I didn't make eye contact. But I felt the muscles in his arm tense up. If he was scared or angry, he didn't show it.

"She's...somewhere safe. Are you asking for Kai?"

I stopped in my tracks.

"What makes you think I'm asking for Kai?"

"Well, not to be rude, sister dear, but I know you, the ex, and your little boyfriend...don't really care." He said with a little shrug.

I crossed my arms across my chest and smiled.

"Actually, none of us, INCLUDING Kai, give a damn about your little girlfriend."

His gaze hardened and he took a step towards me. I didn't miss a beat. Within seconds, he was pressed up against a store window, with my sai pressed against his neck.

"I will NOT do this dance with you again, Cole."

A smile spread out across his face, and he began to laugh. It wasn't his laugh though, it was creepy, malicious.

Evil.

He shook his hair out of his eyes.

"Oh that's rich! The great Ninja of Energy is scared of me!"

I pressed my blade farther into his neck until a thin line of blood appeared on his neck. My voice came out dangerously low and through my clenched teeth, sounded worse then angry. But then again, I was.

"I'm not scared of anyone or anything. You don't scare me and you. never. will."

And then I did it.

With one quick, fluid motion, I pulled my other sai out of my belt and dragged the tip across his face. I couldn't stop myself.

He screamed out in pain and pushed me off, his hand pressed to his face. I looked down at my hands, both covered in his blood. I dropped to my knees, then let my sais roll out of my hands. I heard sobs, and was surprised that they were mine.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!"

I looked over at Cole, he had removed his hand from his face. Though blurry, I could see that he was losing a lot of blood.

"I...I don't know. I just wanted you to know how I felt."

A shadow fell over the sidewalk in front of me. I looked up into a pair of gray eyes.

"You don't know how I feel."

I felt a horrible pain in my chest and looked down as a large, red stain began to form on the front of my turtleneck. I glanced up at Cole, who let a sai roll out of his hand and hit the sidewalk.

"Oops."

I fell over, the pain beginning to get to me. I didn't need to look down to know that I was losing a lot of blood. He bent down next to me.

"You took something important from me, so now, I'm going to take something important from you."

He stood up without another word. I could hear his footsteps walking away from me. I used what was left of my energy to shift my body, so I was laying on my back instead of my side.

As the pale, blue sky faded into red, I remembered what Cole said and only one thought went through my mind.

_Zane._


End file.
